'Birdman' Tracks A Comeback In (Seemingly) One Long Take

Birdman's opening shot has a meteor flaring across a twilit sky — a dying star falling to earth being an apt first image for a movie about a film superhero who's flamed out.

The next shot shows what's happened to him: ex-Birdman Riggan Thomson (played by ex-Batman Michael Keaton) facing away from the camera in yoga position in his dressing room at Broadway's St. James Theater. As Riggan attempts a comeback on stage, director Alejandro Iñárritu's camera will follow him, ...